No one has been arrested so far this offseason. And I’m not saying I want any players in trouble with the law. It’s just been real quiet the last couple weeks.

Nothing with recruiting. No police blotter. No conference insanity. Just ridiculously quiet.

So, what are still in my browser tabs that need to go?

The Academic Progress Rate reports came out in the beginning of May. Since the APR can be such a flawed metric, I really don’t get too worked up one way or another on it. Pitt has not had any problem with its major sports in staying above the trouble point.* So, for whatever value you want to place on it, the basketball squad finished in the top 10% of the APR compared to other basketball programs. The third time in four years it has done that.

APR takes into account graduation rates over a four-year period between 2009-10 and 2012-13 and is considered a real-time measure of retention and eligibility. Pitt received recognition in 2009-10 and 2010-11 under coach Jamie Dixon and academic support services director Mike Farabaugh, joining Duke and Notre Dame as the only ACC schools to earn honors three of the past four years.

The ACC had 77 teams in all sports recognized, the most of the five major conferences.

“Jamie Dixon continues to prove that you can have one of the top basketball program in the country and still achieve the highest levels of academic success,” Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said in a prepared statement. “We are fortunate to have a gentleman leading our basketball program who personifies the ideals of this great university.”

Pitt had four players — junior Cameron Wright and freshmen Jamel Artis, Josh Newkirk and Mike Young — named to the Academic All-ACC team.

Wright also received the Skip Prosser Award, honoring the ACC’s top scholar-athlete in basketball.

Players being named to the Academic All-ACC team seems like a bigger deal than the overall APR score.

*Well, maybe not entirely true. If I recall correctly, when the APR was first instituted, Pitt basketball was at risk because the years it tabulated included the end of the Ralph Willard era. Tons of players booted, transferred and such made it look really bad to start. There was plenty of time for the APR to improve, though, before any penalties occurred. Which is what happened.

Feel like some early ACC basketball prognostications? Me neither, but the pickings are slim.

The Panthers stumbled once they hit ACC play and they couldn’t hide behind a week non-conference schedule anymore. Next season, they’ll be playing without Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna, who both graduated. There is some decent young talent on the roster, but the Panthers will have a lot of production to make up in a conference that could have four top 15 teams.

My quick thought is that I’ve heard this song before. Seniors at Pitt who departed and since there are no one-and-dones coming in, the roster seems like unknowns left on the roster.

There is no doubt that there will be plenty of questions on the team, but barring injuries I just don’t see this team finishing 10th in the ACC. No matter how potentially loaded the conference could be.

The only ACC Coaching news was Clemson basketball head coach Brad Brownell getting an extension and bump in salary after his run to the NIT semifinals. The extension was not surprising since he had less than four years on the initial deal and no one wants to have whispers of job insecurity. The extension merely moves Brownell from near the bottom of the conference pay scale to the middle. Most Clemson fan grumbling has to do with his buy out if Clemson decides to fire him:

Buyout on Clemson’s end to fire him

5+ seasons left: $5 mil
4: $5 mil
3: $3.5 mil
2: $3 mil
1: $3 mil

Yeah, that might annoy some people. Seems more like a way to be sure he gets at least three years without a fight. I happen to think Brownell is a pretty good coach, and Clemson has been, um, Death Valley for basketball so there has to be some extra protection with a middle of the road salary.

I couldn’t agree more about Pitt BB once again being picked too low pre-season … due to not having any big names returning.

It’s the antithesis of Wanny’s last season which despite having the least amount of starters in the league returning, was picked #1 pre-season because of D Lewis, J Baldwin and G Romeus. (All 3 did not play as well or hardly played.)

Not saying Pitt BB will win the league title this coming year but would not surprise me one bit if they finish in Top 5. My prediction is that we will all be pleased with the team in Jan-Feb but think the team will fall short in March again … although it may well be that the team overachieved in regular season.

“Jamie Dixon continues to prove that you can have one of the top basketball program in the country and still achieve the highest levels of academic success,” Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said in a prepared statement.

Does anyone really think we are one of the Top Basketball Programs in the country? Pederson talking out of his ass again. Jamie is a great man and a really good coach but we are not one of the top programs.

This slow time is a good time to start some football predictions. I see us taking a big step forward with our rather easier schedule and young talent starting to blossom.

If we can get our offensive line playing well I see us with a power running game systematically rolling down the field and our athletic receivers making spectacular big plays. Defense holds it’s own and improves on third down.

Pittsburghers in general will embrace this team with this combination of power football and acrobatic wide receivers and a top 20 ranking by mid October. Better yet wait until the end of the 2015 season when the wheels should really be rolling. H2P!

Boubacar – very subjective. But based on wins, tournaments, etc., definitely top 20, and you’re right, top 10 is a tough (though possible) sell due to lack of tournament advancement, so call it 15. Which is why Peterson is correct.

I wonder why Pederson is talking out his ass for being an AD who speaks positively of his own teams. I would disagree with him if he said it about football, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did because it is his job. But he didn’t say anything untrue or “out of his ass” about our basketball program. Why do some people love to hate Pederson so much that even when he doesn’t do something stupid, he is still doing something stupid? Why do some Pitt fans seem to hate Pitt so much that they can’t even consider that we might have something good here (basketball), even if it isn’t the absolute best?

And whoever ends up playing the 5, Haughton, Randall or Uchebo aren’t exactly scoring threats as well.

We’re going to have to have a tremendous increase in point production from these 3 players, Young, Artis & Durand Durand. As well as Jeter fitting in seamlessly. The problem is, those 4 might be our 4 best players but they all play the same 2 positions. So how do you get them the time needed on the court to significantly increase their point production, as we know Jamie is quick with the hook.

Lamar’s production went up significantly this past season as he was on the court much more than ever, as we didn’t have many options at SF. Jamie’s hook didn’t come into play therefore.

“What this tells us is that the CORE of the team is what wins games. For next season the core will at least be Robinson, Wright, Young, Artis, Jeter, Newkirk, and Johnson. That’s a core of seven productive players, which is good enough to win a lot of games.”

It will be interesting to see how Jamie uses his guards. Newkirk obviously has the most upside and can play both the 1 and 2. I see them splitting time evenly unless you just can’t keep Newkirk off the floor. You pretty much know what you have with the other two. Doubtful that either has a breakout year at this point.

The other huge question is does DJ recover quickly, and does CJ’s surgery make that much of a difference. No way to tell how Jeter works out.

Howard, they have yet to get a commit at the 5 for 2015 and 2016 …. although they are trying. If Haughton is the rebounder and shot-blocker as reputed, it will certainly help.

As Emel stated, they may need someone to create shots on offense; Newkirk seems to be the best candidate right now. The rest of the 6 players mentioned above all have had games in double figures, but shot creation seems to be limited … but there is potential. A healthy, more confident Young and a healthy DJ would certainly help (DJ needs no more confidence)

I will admit we were 100% a top program. My point is recently we have regressed big time. Also to compare us to the other 300 schools isn’t fair because we have a commitment to hoops, pay a lot to a coach and have a big time basketball facility. Is it fair to compare us to Marshal or the Northwestern States of D1?

Good Points Dan! In the same fairness, we havent committed to Hoops and invested in Hoops like the UA, UK, Kansas, UF, Syracuse, UCLA ans UNC and Duke’s either. So throw them out and the Montana’s as well like you said. Have a good one.

I have to laugh when they pick us 10th. We will finish in the top half dozen or better. Barring injury Jamie has been extremely consistent in keeping us competitive in conference play and picking us 10th flies in the face of his history. Jamie has areas where one can question his performance but only the uninformed would suggest he would field that bad a team. History says this guy is dead wrong.

The four freshman got a ton of play last year and the senior Wright is gutsy tough type. He will set the tone and this team will do just fine. Duran will be back and we will hopefully get to see Young and Jones play healthy. We aren’t going to dominate the ACC with this group but JD will figure a way to win 10+ as usual. Take it to the bank.

@Upitbaseball, “we have regressed big time” Duran Johnson doesn’t tear a knee we are top 15 and Adams stays top 5. We might not be where we were at some point but we are still knocking at the same door and regressed big time is an overstatement at best. This years team lacked experienced depth after Johnson got hurt but still managed to embarrass UNC and give both the Orange and conference champ Virginia all they could handle. We had our moments.

Maybe I am missing something but… Derrick Randall was arrested in NJ for DUI and also in possession of a ‘controlled substance’.

Right now we got Randall (well, he is suspended indefinitely right now), Doorson (who some are saying won’t make it because of academics) and Uchebo (who can’t get off the ground) as our only true sized Cs. Uh, we are one over on schollys right now so that means one of them has to go. Then Dixon has been trying real hard to bring in another player which means he would just as soon part ways with two of them. But, Dixon hasn’t found anyone. The guess here is they will not find anyone, Doorson won’t make the grades, they will welcome Randall back and, Uchebo will also be on the roster next year.

Anyone else know anything about this or, care to venture a guess?

Yeah, only is of significance for backups. Dixon is gonna start Haughton and spell him with Young swinging over from PF.

JD is not out beating the bushes for a big… he out beating the bushes for a guard or SF.

If he had gotten Wesley he would have moved in as the starter at SF immediately (Wesley is a 2/3 player).

Other than that, he offered a 2014 top 100 guard that got out of his Oky commit… and ended up at Rhode Island. If this guy had committed, he would not be ready to start so it probably means Dixon has been thinking about starting Newkirk at SG and moving Wright… to SF, and this guy would have come off the bench at guard.

Given a probable starting lineup of Robinson, Wright, Young, Haughton and… -unknown-… we need a 5th starter that is a scorer and a scorer in no uncertain terms.

If Durand is ready to go at the start of the season and is hitting his 3balls at a better clip than he did last year… he would probably fit the bill. But, two big ifs there and he probably will not be ready at the start of the season.

Then there is Jeter… a big unknown.

Chris Jones is also a possibility here… if he gets the thumb fixed and makes some significant improvement.

Then there is the idea of Wright starting at SF and starting Newkirk at SG. Dixon may indeed be planning on going in this direction.

I guess I would just as soon see Newkirk starting at SG and Durand starting at SF… and Wright.. starting on the bench. But, this is not gonna happen. Wright is gonna start one place or another.

DJ & MY could combine for 30+ a night. JN & JA have the ability to combine for 15- 20 off the bench. CW is good for 12 & JR SJ CJ TH provide the rest of the points to get us over 72ppg
The good news is CW can rebound well from the guard spot which he will need to do to help TH & MY. Could be a fun season. SJ & CJ are the wildcards IMO. Can SJ defend well enough to get significant minutes? Does CJ recover from surgery & realize his potential. Im not worried about DJ – he seems to have a ton of “want to”. CANT WAIT

I have no problem with that! If SJ can pull off the dirty work of playing down low then thats butter. I just think HCJD traditionally promotes from within (DJ is due) & he would be worried about MY’s morale logging starters minutes at center. Don’t get me wrong I am all the way bullish on JN (fastest & quickest guard we’ve ever had IMO) & am very happy SJ will have a chance to rep his home squad (just always saw him as a wing – committing to improving his handle & range). I am also for rewarding the upside of JN – starting him sliding CW to the 3 until DJ is 110% & then asking the Sr. CW to be the defensive stopper/energy guy off the bench. DJ has a pure scorers mentality. He has the pedigree of a East Coast Hitman & I believe we need to see him drop 20ppg’s – raining 3’s & taking it hard to the cup in transition! SJ may indeed be that type of guy too (more better)!

Emel, Concerning your suggestion of prayer for Uchebo’s knee, maybe we could get Benny Hinn to come in and do a healing. While he is here maybe he could also have word with the Lord on recruiting and replacing Slice.

SOS22 – I agree on CJ. To look at him & the way he moves he reminds me of G’Town’s David Wingate… Those are some big shoes to fill IMO & he’s nowhere near that class of player now (& lets face it may never be). Regardless I like the way he stepped in last year, with a heavily taped thumb, and gave a great effort- showing glimpses at times… We just need a damn big man!

I have a hard time getting excited for transfers and Junior College recruits as they usually never live up to expectations. I don’t want to seem like a killjoy but I think our best chances at success will come from those who gave us minutes last year. With that in mind…

Robinson- If JR could start to finish better and gain some shooting confidence he could become a bigger contributor.

Newkirk- He needs to continue to gain defensive skills and improve his foul shooting. This could be Newks year to shine.

Wright- Cam is the senior leadership on this team and he is well suited for the role. Cam is tough and will give 100% every minute. What he lacks in ability he makes up for in guts. He is smart and will help Dixon get the most out of the team.

Johnson- Was starting to advance into an all conference performer when injured. His enthusiasm and drive is exciting and if he returns sound he could play a large role this year.

Young- Certainly appears to have some great tools. It is hard to gage what to expect this season because the injury might have held him back so much last year. He is another who could be a big contributor this season.

Artis- He had some sensational freshman minutes and one has to think he could show improvement in this his sophomore year. No one would be surprised if he sees significant minutes again this year. I wouldn’t count him out off of some of what he showed last year. Defensive improvement is required and he showed not only shooting touch but rebounding ability at times last year.

Jones- The fact that he saw as much time as he did with a bad right hand says a lot about what JD thinks. Look for a healthy Jones to see a lot of minutes and perhaps make a significant contribution to this years squad.

Randall- The arrest was a real boneheaded move but a lack of any experience inside among returners means a likely 2nd chance for the big man. He needs to grow up fast too because if he could just hold his own at the post we can probably field a pretty decent team. He has the ability but who knows about the head. He showed short glimmers of hope at times last year.

I guess I left out Uchebo but from what I saw he is lame and so is his game, I have no hope of him helping at all. It is sad that his knee got so torn up but even if he were healthy he isn’t very good.

Howard, I remember both, I also remember when Trey Zeigler was going to come in and start. Many posters here had him figured for at least 15pts. a game. I think these type of recruits are last ditch options that seldom have a large upside. I am not saying it can’t be a plus, just that I am not counting on it bearing fruit.

JD doesn’t get credit for Lett and the thing I remember most about Dixon was him being in the middle of screwing up the Villanova game that cost us the Final 4.

Again I don’t want to come off as a Killjoy but Jeter and Haughton have to show up and do something before I start figuring them into the mix. Past experience tells me to be wary.

The best transfer player besides Lett was Jaron Brown. He got hurt his senior year but was playing great ball and starting next to Levance when he tore his knee.I’m pretty sure he was a transfer or jc recruit.

I really believe Haughton is gonna get stuck into the starting lineup replacing Zanna. About Zanna’s size and will block more shots but score a lot less. So, with this the team will retain some continuity from last year.

I thought Dixon would move Young to C… even though I didn’t like the idea… but now I don’t think he is gonna do that, although he will swing Young over to C to spell Haughton.

In the loss to UVA in the ACCT… Young only played 16 minutes… and in the loss to Florida… just 21. Not that many minutes for a starter.

Young plays good D but not so good O.

Artis, plays good O but I don’t think most posters realize how bad his ‘soft’ defense was. In the Florida, seemed like every time down the court Florida was taking advantage of his soft defense.. and Dixon had to get him out of there… only played him 16 minutes.

We are gonna need a lot of improvement across the board if we are gonna be a competitive team next year… but I would bet Haughton is gonna start at C… there really isn’t anyone else.

Jeter also has a year out of basketball. He hasn’t been idle, getting training down there in FLA. It may take him a game or two (at Greentree most likely) to get back into the flow of things but overall that extra year should help.

However, Dixon normally sees a player of Jeter’s size and says he is a PF. The thing is, we have Young and Artis at PF and nobody, until Durand is up to speed, to play SF (well, we have Chris Jones for SF, or Wright with Newkirk at SG).

I guess it is POSSIBLE, that Dixon moves Young to C, splitting the time there with Haughton, and has Jeter and Artis split the time at PF. But, IMO Dixon brought in Haughton as the next Zanna and so I expect Dixon will start him at C.

@Z, Before we anoint Haughton the starting center position you might want to consider it is a big step going from JC to the ACC. If this kid starts at center he will have to be exceptional. Not that it couldn’t happen, but what you propose is farfetched in my opinion. It is highly unlikely he will be ready for such a huge step forward.